Brahmanand Mandal (14 January 1947 - 30 January 2024) was an indian politician who served as a member of the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from Munger constituency for three terms under three different political parties: in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, as a member of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

, in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

under the

Samata Party The Samata Party (SAP) is a political party in India, initially formed in 1994 by George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, is now being led by Uday Mandal as its National President. Samata Party once launched Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of ...

, and re-elected in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

as part of

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

. He was the Ex. President of Samata Party (now led by its President Uday Mandal).

Background

Mandal was born on 14 January 1947 in Jhawa, Bahiyar, in the Munger district of Bihar. He was educated at Parbatta College of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University in Parbatta, and worked as a farmer. From 1964, he was a member of the Communist Party of India, and by 1970, a member of the CPI State Council in Bihar. Mandal led the Bekari Ke Sawal Par Andolan in 1969 and was jailed. He also led Bhoomi Mukti Andolan from 1970 to 1971, and describes himself as having "struggled for social causes and suffered imprisonment." He led an agitation against Taufir Kand in which nine persons were killed and four hundred houses were burnt in 1986, and succeeded in convicting the guilty through a special court. He also led an agitation against Tirasi Hatya Kand in which five persons were kidnapped and murdered in 1990, and helped in the arrest of the guilty persons. He formed Jagriti and agitated for the construction of a rail cum road bridge over the River Ganga in Munger. In 1994 he and his followers went on a hunger strike for the demand of a rail cum road bridge over the River Ganga in Munger. After 14 days of his hunger strike the then Minister of Commerce and Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission Sri Pranav Mukherjee gave the assurance of the construction of the bridge.

Lok Sabha career

In 1991 he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha on the CPI ticket, and served on first on the Consultative Committee of the

Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, then on the Standing Committee; in 1994, he became a Member of the Standing Committee on Railways. In 1996, he joined

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian politician, trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the Minister of Defence (India), Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, h ...

and became a member of their National Executive. He was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha, in which he served as the Samata

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

, and as a member of the Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution, and of the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways. He became Secretary General of the Samata Party of Bihar, and the All India Secretary General of the Samata Party. He was not elected to the 12th Lok Sabha, losing to Bijoy Kumar Bijoy of

Rashtriya Janata Dal The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav. The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...

, but was once more elected to the 13th Lok Sabha (defeating Bijoy Kumar Bijoy 346,615 (49.15%) to 324,800 (46.05%)). In the 13th Lok Sabha, Mandal served as Deputy Chief Whip for the JD(U) Parliamentary Party, and as a member of the Committee on Finance, Committee on Government Assurances, and Joint Committee on Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 1999, and (from 2000 onwards) the Consultative Committee, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Samata merger

When in October 2003,

, the president of the Samata Party, announced that the party would be completely merging with the

, a minority in the SP led by Mandal refused to go along with the merger. The

Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body established by Constitution of India, the Constitution of the Republic of India empowered to conduct free and fair elections in the Republic of India. It is headed by a Chief Ele ...

decided that the merger was not technically complete and so a faction was allowed to function under the Samata Party name. He unsuccessfully ran in the 2006 by-election from

Nalanda (Lok Sabha constituency) Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state in eastern India. In 1957, the erstwhile Patna Central constituency was renamed as Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency. Assembly segments Pre ...

in 2006. He contested in the 2009 Indian general election for 15th Lok Sabha from Munger Lok Sabha constituency as an independent candidate, but was not successful, receiving less than 1% of the vote.

Personal life

On 19 December 1977, he married Kiran Kumari (Mandal); they have one son and one daughter. Their home is in Bekapur. He has published one book, ''Monghyr Ka Vikas aur Ganga Pul'', and booklets on "Monghyr Vikas Aur Sangharsh".

Death

Mandal succumbed to a prolonged illness and passed away on January 30th.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandal, Brahmanand 1947 births Living people India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1999–2004 Communist Party of India politicians from Bihar Samata Party politicians Janata Dal (United) politicians People from Katihar district Lok Sabha members from Bihar Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University alumni